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Brasov is located in the bend of the Carpathian Mountains about 160 km north of the capital city of Bucharest. The city has about 280 000 inhabitants and ranks 8th in size in Romania.
The city was founded in the 13th century by knights of the German Order and represented the centre of economic and intellectual life of the Transylvanian Saxons, who were the majority population until the 19th century.
Since the middle ages, the city belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in 1920, following the collapse of the Hapsburg monarchy, became part of Romania. Romania's alignment with the Axis powers during the Hitler era resulted in particularly catastrophic conditions for the German population of the area. Many were deported into forced labour camps in the Soviet Union, where many died, and survivors ended up going to Germany after their release. The collapse of communism in 1989 led to another mass exodus of Transylvanian Saxons to Germany. Today, just a small minority of the original German population has remained in Transylvania.
Nonetheless, German language traditions are still strong in Brasov. There are German schools which permit students to take all of their schooling from elementary school to university in German. Among others, informatics and economics are taught in German at the university level. The overwhelming majority of today's students at German language schools are ethnically Romanian or come from a mixed Romanian-Saxon background. Brasov is also home to a large Hungarian minority.
Brasov lies on the main bus and rail connection from Bucharest to Budapest to Vienna. The travel time to Bucharest is about 2.5 hours. Air travellers will typically arrive in Bucharest and travel overland through the mountains from there.
Among the sightseeing points of Brasov, one must mention the Black Church with its Buchholz organ, the medieval city wall around the historic town centre with its stylish medieval upper class Burgher houses and the recreation and ski area of Poiana Brasov located at the edge of town. Points of interest in the surrounding areas include the "Dracula Castle" in Bran (though Count Dracula never lived there) and the mountain resort of Sinaia with a 17th century monastery and the Hohenzollern castle.
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